In my Readers Digest Vegetable Gardening book, it says:

How Much
Five crowns per person for fresh eating; double that if also freezing.

I think the book is far too conservative. Armed with a portable grill and a bottle of olive oil, I, personally, could mow down an acre of the stuff in 5 minutes.

Can you really freeze asparagus and have it come out edible? I thought it was one of those incredibly delectable treats that doesn't keep.

I have two different guides. One says 10-15 plants per person. It also says the expected harvest of 75 plants is 30 lb.

The other says 32 plants per 4 persons.

This is the first year I've tried blanching and freezing. I had the same worry that it would come out soggy in the end, so I bought a bamboo steamer to try so the asparagus wouldn't actually touch water. I'll have to try some soon to see if it works! I try to remember to post the results.

I started two dozen plants from seed a few years ago; this is our third year of free picking. The two of us (our two-year-old will have nothing to do with asparagus) ate four fresh meals, gave away 3.5 lbs and froze 4 lbs. I stopped picking earlier than I should have because I'm always worried about picking too much. Call it leftover caution from their seedling years that I can't seem to shake. I'm sure we could have gotten a few pounds more from them.

I've never frozen it but it's sold frozen where I shop. It's not as good as fresh, of course, but still far better than nothing. I mostly roast it in the oven or puree for soup. Haven't tried steaming it.

Hi Reba,

You're likely to have advice on quantities all over the map. Quite frankly, I find many of these absolutely mind-boggling! If production of their beds was even close to mine, they'd be buried in 'gus...or turn green themselves trying to eat it all! ~smile~

Allow me to describe my bed, and my production, and perhaps you can make a judgement for your needs. (I'm taking you at your word on the "fresh eating", as opposed to wanting to freeze enough to carry you over the off-season. We've tried that, and no longer care to do it...disappointing taste compared to fresh.)

I have a mature bed (over 5 years) of Jersey Knights. It's one row of 20 crowns, and it's fed twice a year...once in late March before the first spears appear, and again in early July after harvest has ceased for the season. Now the productivity.

From mid-April until mid June, I harvest almost every day. Each harvest yields a large, heaping handful (I have big hands) of 'gus....more than enough for a meal for two. We love 'gus, too, but can't eat it all every day. To avoid waste, we supply some to 4 neighborhood families (rotating), plus we keep our daughter and her family in 'gus...as much as they can eat. I'm just guessing now, but the math would seem to say I harvest close to 60 lbs. of asparagus each season from my 20 crowns...perhaps more.

This is just my anecdotal experience...others may differ. I think some of the problem with the advice given is that many folks don't have any experience with the Jersey varieties of all-male asparagus crowns. It's a fact that these typically are, at the very least, twice as productive as the older mixed-gender varieties.

Hope this helps you with your decision, Reba. And best wishes for a great experience and yummy eating!

Hal (in So. Central Pa.)

Holy cow, Hal! I just ordered 10 Jersey crowns and 10 purple passion. Book said plant 2 varieties in case of disease. Kinda thinking I should cancel the purple and risk the disease after that glowing report!

Holly, I like your answer. Putting it another way, too much is not enough.

Jim

20 crowns is a good number. Prep the bed by double-digging and adding plenty of rich compost. Be sure to give each crown enough room to spread. Jimster has better production from his mature bed than I do from mine; but I agree that 20 crowns will feed your family plus offer some surplus.

No! Don't cancel the purple passion. It may not be as productive but it sure is tasty.

I have Jersey giants, Jersey knights and purple passion, about 40 total. That's more than enough for the 2 of us. I love the variety. We don't like it so much after it's been frozen accept maybe some for soup so my sons family gets the surplus. Btw, I had 50 plants but 10 of thoses were females so I removed them and replaced them with Jersey giants for 2 reasons. 1- They are indeed more productive. 2- They re-seed like mad in the garden and the birds eat the seeds and "plant" them everywhere.

One of my favorite ways to eat gus is in a frittata. I've included a basic recipe below. I've used various cheeses to top it off and I've never had a bad one. You can add leeks, shrooms, peppers or whatever you desire.

Enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Asparagus frittata

PS, when I said "THEY re-seed like mad" I meant that the females re-seed....of course, the males don't produce seeds.

Thank you guys so much for all the help. That recipe sounds fantastic Peggy! It never crossed my mind to try asparagus in a frittata. Probably because we couldn't resist it long enough to give it more than a quick steam! I ordered 2 year old crowns which should be here in late September. I have a sunny strip by the fence where the soil was built up with sand and topsoil when the house was built. Should be perfect. I'm drooling already :)

I got the bug to plant asparagus this spring and stated searching the web for a good deal on crowns. Park Seed evidently had a lot left over because they were offering them at a "buy 1 get 3" deal. I bought 20 Jersey Giant and 10 Purple Passion and received 60 and 30 for a total of 90 crowns. They arrived on June 18 and I had them all planted in a hurriedly but properly prepared bed 10 days later, 6 rows of 15 crowns each.

As of today, all but seven of the Jersey Giants are up but only eight of the Purple Passion. Digging around, I found two dead crowns but all the others still alive and sending out tiny shoots off of the main roots so I haven't given up on those.

I have gone beyond "breaking even" cost wise on crown survival and I suspect that this quantity will satisfy the needs of my wife and I. Adult children might get the leftovers after we have eaten, pickled and frozen what we think we need!!!!

I never do anything by halves! I immediately bought seed for both those varieties plus Golia and Argenteuil. I am now planning to put in another bed at least twice that size in the spring. The seedlings are doing quite well in my small greenhouse.

Reba, take Hal's advice on how to take care of your 'gus. I followed his advice earlier this spring when I bought a bunch of Jersey Giant leftovers at the garden shop. They all came up, and they are all growing strong now, every single one. I'm so happy. I fertilized them again in July and with all the rain we have had recently, they are responding very well.

Two of us eat all the asparagus out of 100' row of Jersey Knight. Eat it fresh, pickled, and frozen. The frozen isn't anywhere as good as fresh but in February it's pretty darn good. It is excellent in soups, stews and covered in a cream sauce. Tom

Hal - what do you use as fertilizer?

I found another post by Hal where he mentions using a 10-10-10 fertilizer. Problem solved

OK, Skagit...time to fess up. Are you really man or goat? If just two of you can eat all of a 100' row of Jersey Knights, I have my own opinion....but have a bit of difficulty picturing a goat using a keyboard. Perhaps our PA goats are retarded? (I'm just kidding!!) But, seriously, I have no idea how just 2 people can consume the total production of a bed that size.

grassman: You're correct. I've found that the twice yearly schedule of an application of 10-10-10 keeps my bed of Jersey Knights quite happy and ready to produce a great crop the following spring....one application just prior to emergence in the spring, and the other in early July after harvest has been stopped. This is not just my experimenting...it's recommended by various university agricultural sites and is the result of their research.

Regards to all,
Hal

Hal,
Guess I'm man because the one garden plant our goats won't eat is asparagus. We have a market bed of 'gus at our farm with 1000 crowns and the two of us took care of a 150' row when we lived there. At our new home we hope the 100' is enough. 100' should give us 50-60#'s when in full production and that's really not so much for 12 months. We put down about 30-40# fresh during the season, pickle a few cases and blanch and freeze a bunch. The frozen is OK as a vegie but put it thru a food processer and it is great made into a soup. Nuts, now I think I need to plant another 100'. Tom

Cream of Asparagus soup is delicious! Even with store bought frozen asparagus.

Hey Hal, since "you the man". Smile. Please advise. I planted a bed of 10 Jersey Knights this spring. They've ferned out beautifuly. (initial prep in bed just received compost) Should I just add a few inches of compost this fall? or do they need additional fertilizer? And, cut the ferns this fall or no? I recently read to leave the ferns as a snow trap. I'm in central IL working in acidic clay. Thanks so much,
Sudzy

Tom: Well, I've learned something new (to me). Goats won't eat asparagus? Wow! Maybe we need to rethink our gluttonous taste for 'gus. ~grin~ I'm still puzzled, though, for the need of such a large bed. I'm not pulling your leg when I say that my 20+ foot row produced over 60# of 'gus this year and last. We give a lot away to friends and neighbors, for we choose not to freeze.

Sudzy: If I were you, I'd purchase bagged "organic humus and manure"...enough to cover your bed with about 4" of it. It's already composted and available at lawn/garden and farm supply stores around here. Then, in the Spring before first spears peek through, apply about 2 lbs. of 10-10-10 commercial fertilizer per 20 feet of row. I, too, have read about letting the ferns stand to collect snow. I've never tried that, preferring to cut the ferns after they turn brown from frost and burning them or otherwise disposing of them away from the garden. This assures me that there will be no overwintering beetles in the old stalks. Oh, one more thing. With your soil, I'd recommend at least 2 lbs. of pelletized lime per 20 feet of row...before you cover your bed with the composted humus and manure

Regards,
Hal (not "the man", just enjoy 'gus) ~smile~

Hal, et al:

How deep do you plant your crowns? Most advice I have found says 8-12 inches deep. But I have seen some other sources say that you should not go deeper than 6 inches because anything deeper will result in lower yields.

Also, I have seen conflicting advice on filling in the furrows. Most seem to say to fill gradually after planting. Others say this doesn't matter, and to just fill completely after planting.

Now that all the gus people are reading this thread I would like to know your opinion on the purple passion aspargus. I see here that a lot of you are growing it.I would like to plant some this fall but every place I found it only ship in the spring. Any help would be appreciated!!!
THANK YOU YOPPER

This is the first thread I've posted that's gotten more than 4 replies! I am getting Purple Passion from Gurney's this fall. Should be getting them in 2 weeks or so, they probably still have some.

Here is a link that might be useful: gurney's nursery

Our asparagus bed is my husbands project and he has mostly green but planted some purple a couple of years ago. He was complaining about it all not doing too well and I told him to winter it down with some dry manure (my grandmothers method). He started doing this year before last and especially the purple spears where so large this spring that two spears were enough for one persons serving! We've enjoyed it all, of course. I don't know how many crowns he actually has now, but it's a bed about 3'x50' and we freeze and give away a lot over what we eat fresh.

grassman:

I, too, have seen the conflicting advice on planting. Most ag sites lately are in agreement.

I dug a 12" deep trench, and filled the bottom 5-6" with amended soil....organic matter and triple super phosphate. Thus, my crown depth was approximately 6". I DID go the stepped-backfill route. I added soil as the spears came up, until eventually reaching the original soil level.

My bed is now 8 years old, and has performed better than my most optimistic hopes.

Hal

Hal--
Sorry it's taken me so long to return to this thread. I sure thank you for the advice. I wrote it all down and will do as per your instructions, including the liming.

If your still around, one of my plants turned out to be a "she". lol. I've got green berries. Should I pull it? Or could I just remove the berries? (Yeah, I got too much time on my hands. lol)
Thanks abunch,
Sudz

Sudz:

"She" plants happen. No grower can 100% guarantee that an errant bee carrying alien pollen can't get into their plots. Jersey Asparagus farms, for example, will tell you that their Knights are roughly 96%-98% male.

Female plants are not as productive as the males, but you still might want to keep yours. (I would pull it) Picking all the berries would be a pain, but new seedlings from them would be seen by the rest of your bed as competing weeds...and 'gus doesn't appreciate competition. That said, it's your call as to what you'd prefer to do...pull the crown, or pull weeds. :-)

Best of luck with your new bed. It should give you 15-20 years of yummy eating!

Regards,
Hal

Thanks for all the help on the 'gus questions. I've still got time to finalize a plan before I plant in the spring and I'm sure I'll need it. I love that one veggie can occupy so much of my time, and I haven't even started growing it yet!

If you're still out there Hal........ How big is your asparagus bed that holds 20 crowns? I was planning on planting my crowns staggered 2 feet apart, which is as close as I thought they could be. Just came across some conflicting info though so I thought I'd seek the expert's advice! Thanks!

Hi again Reba,

My bed is only 22-24 feet long. I don't know who is advising you on your spacing, but 12-14 inches (max) is just fine. Otherwise, you'll end up with large gaps and wasted space.

Best of luck with your babies!

Hal

hi hal,

i have a very small (6'x6' square) area that i can devote to asparagus. could i plant the crowns in 12' apart to get enough asparagus to eat for my family of four?

your yields are inspiring! :)

Hi engk,

If I were you, I'd find a way to squeeze in 12 crowns in that limited space. I'd suggest 10-12 inch spacing between crowns, with 2 rows as far apart as you can tolerate...perhaps 3 feet apart. This is stretching the recommended guides, but should produce a very satisfactory bed.

Twelve crowns of a productive variety such as Jersey Knights should provide your family with a nice supply of 'gus, but you might not be giving much away to friends. Just be sure to prepare your bed well, for this "extra work" pays huge dividends in terms of production and longevity.

May I also suggest you call Jersey Asparagus Farms, and get their opinion on the best variety for the Trenton area, as well as when you should order for spring delivery. I don't have their number handy, but you can get it by Googling for it. Ask to speak with Scott Walker if he's available. BTW, their web site has great guides for the home gardener...preparation, planting, and harvesting. They won't agree with my spacing suggestions, but that's OK. Ya' gotta use what ya' got! :-)

Best wishes for a happy 'gus experience!

Hal in PA

thank you! i did find jersey asparagus farms while looking up crown suppliers on the internet, and luckily they're no more than an hour away. the person i spoke to thought that i would need 80 crowns for a family of 4 - i certainly don't have the space for that many, but i'm willing to give it a go with the teensy plot that i have.

i dearly love asparagus, and lucky for me, i'm the only one in my family who does! :)

thank you so much for the advice hal, you're an inspiration!